Study: Prostate Cancer Victims Value Quality Of Life

Health digest

May 20, 1993

Men who suffer side effects from prostate cancer treatment are much more upset if they cannot hold urine than if they suffer the more common problem of sexual impotence, a study found. The findings suggest that doctors should pay more attention to the quality of life for prostate cancer patients rather than simply trying to extend their lives regardless of the consequences, said the study's author, Dr. Mark S. Litwin of the University of California, Los Angeles. Some elderly men decide they are better off leaving slow-growing prostate cancer untreated and living a shorter time rather than having a longer life that is marred by urinary incontinence or sexual impotence caused by surgery or radiation treatment, he said.